Attorneys for Apple, Samsung trade a final round of volleys

A crowd waits Tuesday to get into the federal courthouse in San Jose, Calif., where the Apple-Samsung case is being tried. Apple and Samsung combined account for more than half of global smartphone sales.

Photo: Paul Sakuma

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A lawyer for Apple said Tuesday that Samsung was having a "crisis of design" after the launch of the iPhone, and executives with the South Korean company were determined to illegally cash in on the success of the revolutionary device.

Samsung's lawyer countered that the technology giant was simply and legally giving consumers what they want: smartphones with big screens.

The claims came during closing arguments at the multibillion-dollar patent trial involving the world's biggest smartphone companies, after last-minute talks between chief executives failed to resolve the dispute.

Apple Corp. argues that Samsung Electronics Co. should pay the Cupertino, Calif-based company $2.5 billion for ripping off its iPhone and iPad technology when it marketed competing devices.

Samsung has sold 22.7 million smartphones and tablets using stolen - "infringed" in legalese - Apple technology since June 2010 on sales of $8.16 billion, Apple lead attorney Harold McElhinny told jurors Tuesday.

"The damages in this case should be large because the infringement has been massive," he said.

McElhinny said Apple confronted Samsung about the alleged copying and sought a resolution before filing its lawsuit last year.

"Instead of doing the right thing, Samsung decided to gin up claims of its own," McElhinny said of Samsung's counter claim seeking $399 million from Apple for allegedly using Samsung technology in making the iconic iPhone and iPad.

Apple and Samsung combined account for more than half of global smartphone sales. Apple is also demanding that Samsung pull its most popular cellphones and computer tablets from the U.S. market.

"Apple is asking what it is not entitled to," Samsung's lawyer Charles Verhoeven said during his closing arguments. "Rather than competing in the marketplace, Apple is seeking an edge in the courtroom."

Verhoeven argued that the state of technology has led most phone makers to design simple-to-use products with large, rounded rectangular faces. He conceded that Apple makes great products but doesn't have a monopoly on the design it claims it created.

The jury of nine people is expected to begin deliberations Wednesday after hearing three weeks of testimony from technology experts, patent professionals and company executives.

Apple's damage demands, if awarded, would represent the largest patent verdict in the U.S.

From the beginning, legal experts and Wall Street analysts have viewed Samsung as the underdog. To begin with, Apples headquarters is a mere 10 miles from the courthouse, and jurors were picked from the heart of Silicon Valley where the company's late founder Steve Jobs is a revered technological pioneer.